The State | Staff reports

First lady Jenny Sanford is supporting Lexington state Rep. Nikki Haley for governor, Sanford said in a letter of support released by the Haley campaign.

Sanford, who helped manage her husband Gov. Mark Sanford’s campaigns for Congress and governor, said Haley stands out in the five- candidate Republican field mainly for her history of fiscal conservatism and her advocacy of government restructuring.

CQ Politics | Poll Tracker

Fifty-one percent of voters disapprove of the job Patrick is doing in his first term, including majorities of Republicans and independents; 42 percent approve. Just 32 percent of voters think Patrick deserves to be re-elected, wile 55 percent say it is time to elect someone else. The margin of error is 4 percent.

Patrick, however, leads in a three-way race against independent Tim Cahill, the state’s current treasurer, and either of two prospective Republican candidates. Against Republican businessman Christy Mihos, Patrick takes 36 percent of the vote while Cahill nabs 26 percent and Mihos comes in at 20 percent. Eighteen percent remain undecided.

Boston Globe | Mihos campaign coming up short in funds

USA Today | USA TODAY’s Congress Team

Ohio’s Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland has a fight on his hands.

A Quinnipiac University Poll released today shows Strickland and his Republican challenger John Kasich in a dead heat in the 2010 governor’s race, 40% to 40%.

The poll found Ohio voters believe Kasich is better qualified to rebuild the state economy and handle the budget.

An earlier poll, taken in September, found Strickland leading Kasich, 46% to 36%.

Philadelphia Bulletin | Dems Fade In Ohio Senate Race

DesMoines Register | Des Moines Register and Tribune Company

Gov. Chet Culver’s job approval has fallen to a critical new low, and former Gov. Terry Branstad poses a major potential threat to Culver’s re-election, according to The Des Moines Register’s new Iowa Poll.

Just 40 percent of Iowans in the survey taken last week say they approve of the job the first-term Democrat is doing, reflecting a 10-percentage-point drop since mid-September.

• *Political Wire | Culver Sinking Fast in Iowa
• *My DD | Bad news for Culver

Austin Scott for Governor of Georgia

Scott campaign: Candidate’s walk around Ga. longest ever by politician

CQ Politics | By Greg Giroux

Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison won’t resign her seat until after she participates in a Republican primary for governor next March.

According to the Associated Press, Hutchison plans to say in a speech Saturday in Galveston that she’ll remain in the Senate to fight Democratic proposals to overhaul health care and enact a cap-and-trade system to limit greenhouse gases.

Washington Times | Sarah Abruzzese

Republican candidate Robert F. McDonnell has opened a decisive lead over state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds in the Virginia gubernatorial race, according to the latest poll, released Tuesday.

The poll from Public Policy Polling, a nonpartisan Raleigh, N.C.-based firm, shows Mr. McDonnell with 51 percent support compared with 37 percent for Mr. Deeds. The 14-point lead is up from six points a month ago.

Mr. Deeds is also combating Democratic voter fatigue, according to the poll, which shows only 42 percent of the people who voted for President Obama intend to vote in the fall, while 60 percent of the people who voted for Arizona Sen. John McCain are planning to head to the polls.

Fox News | No Author Listed

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said Wednesday she will step down this fall to challenge fellow Republican Rick Perry for governor in 2010, setting the stage for what will be a crowded race to replace her.

Hutchison told WBAP radio of Fort Worth-Dallas in an interview that she’ll quit the Senate in October or November, signaling that she will return to Texas full time to campaign for the governorship as soon as this fall. She reiterated that she would formally declare her candidacy in August.

“Then the actual leaving of the Senate will be some time — October, November — that, in that time frame,” Hutchison said.

Washington Post | Robert Mccartney

The first debate in the high-profile race to be Virginia’s next governor proved to be spirited and sharp but also well mannered. The candidates, former attorney general Robert F. McDonnell (R) and state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds (D-Bath), know each other well and seem likely to conduct the campaign with mutual respect for now.

That’s a shame, because some of the candidates’ positions deserve rude dismissal. McDonnell endorsed the economic policies of President George W. Bush — you know, the ones that led to the worst recession in seven decades. Deeds said his No. 1 priority is transportation — but refuses to spell out how he’d address it.

CQ Politics | Greg Giroux

Sens. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., and Richard C. Shelby, R-Ala., will easily win new terms in 2010 in part because of their huge campaign treasuries.

Schumer has $14.9 million in his campaign committee and Shelby has $14.8 million, according to a CQ Politics analysis of recently filed Senate campaign finance reports that cover activity through the end of June.

Schumer represents some wealthy New York donors and shattered fundraising records as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in the 2006 and 2008 campaign cycles. Shelby is a former chairman of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and is presently its top-ranking Republican.